Powerbrokers at the Welsh region have already opened talks with Halfpenny's agent and are determined to keep the Lions hero in Wales

Welsh rugby is determined to hold on to Leigh Halfpenny who has become the hottest property in the world game.

Like Lions captain Sam Warburton, Blues star Halfpenny is out of contract at the end of next season – and his value has rocketed following six months which have seen him named Six Nations player of the year and Lions player of the series.

Now powerbrokers at the Welsh region are determined to do everything in their remit to persuade the Wales full-back that his future lies at Cardiff Arms Park.

“We will be working hard with Leigh to try and lock him into the Blues for the foreseeable future.

“We are going to do everything in our power to secure his services and, hopefully, we can be successful.”

Halfpenny’s current deal has only one year left to run and French clubs Toulon, the European champions, and Paris-based Racing Metro are expected to have the 24-year-old at the top of their shopping list.

Holland, speaking from Australia where he has been meeting agents, said honestly: “Whether Leigh will stay I don’t know.

“I can’t speak for him but he’s a Welsh lad and we’re hoping he will be able to commit to the Blues.

“We’re trying to put, within our means, a package on the table which will enable Leigh to stay at the Arms Park and in Welsh rugby.

“We’re also in the same position with Sam, his deal is another up at the end of next season but we want him to stay.

“Last season we put a three-year deal together that kept Alex Cuthbert at the Blues and we have also signed fellow Lions Gethin Jenkins and Matthew Rees for next season.

“I don’t think we are far away from being a very good team and it’s our intention to start next season with a bang.”

Holland welcomed the £1m shared extra funding that the four Welsh regions will receive from the WRU for next season.

He has had talks with WRU chief executive Roger Lewis as the regions battle to stem a damaging player-drain which has seen Lions kings George North, Dan Lydiate and Jamie Roberts the latest to bag big-money contracts elsewhere.

North was controversially sold by the Scarlets to Northampton Saints in a transfer deal reputed to be worth £250,000 while Lydiate and Roberts have joined French Top 14 big-spenders Racing.

That pair follow Lions scrum-half Mike Phillips (Bayonne), Luke Charteris and James Hook (both Perpignan), Lee Byrne (Clermont Auvergne) and Aled Brew (Biarritz) to the other side of the Channel.

“I have met Roger and had a productive conversation with him – there is a common desire to keep our best players in Wales,” declared Holland.

“But whatever comes out of discussions between the union and the regions remains to be seen.”

The WRU had allegedly offered to bring in central contracts while the regions want higher top-up payments for their Wales squad members.

“It’s more money that’s needed and bigger crowds at the regions,” said Holland.

“There’s a reputed 35,000 Welshmen and women in Australia to watch the Lions and there was a full house at the Millennium Stadium to watch Wales play France on the big screen from the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

“They travel halfway around the world to watch the Lions, yet they don’t seem to want to come and watch regional rugby.

“If they did, we wouldn’t have any trouble in keeping the likes of Leigh and Sam at the Blues, Alun Wyn and Adam Jones at the Ospreys, Jonathan Davies at the Scarlets and Toby Faletau at the Dragons.

“If people – and I presume they do – want us to keep the best players in Wales they have to support the regions.

“We, at the Blues, have the Lions player of the series in Leigh, and the captain in Sam. What more can we do?

“Leigh was already Six Nations player of the year and must be the only candidate to be the International Rugby Board’s world player of the year after destroying Australia.

“We’re seeing a spike in season ticket sales on the back of the Lions but we need more support to enhance our chances of keeping them.

“We know the value of them commercially. We couldn’t keep Jamie for next season, but we managed to hang on to Alex.

“We are incredibly proud of what Leigh, Sam, Alex and Jamie, along with the rest of the Lions, have achieved in Australia.

“I’m working hard with my chairman Peter Thomas and the respective agents of Leigh and Sam to formulate the future.

“But I hope the Lions success they were at the heart of will galvanise more people into attending regional matches, because it’s more people through the gates we need.”

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